TOKYO – Seven of Japan's top electronics manufacturers will post losses for the fiscal year ending in March, says EE Times.

Hitachi Ltd., Panasonic Corp., Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corp. and Sharp Corp. are expected to have combined net losses of  $22.3 billion.

Net profits were predicted as late as November, the publication reports.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. are the only two local firms predicting to avoid the red.

Hitachi and Toshiba reportedly will report their steepest losses ever.